The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future Accountability and Implementation Board unanimously approved earlier updates to the comprehensive plan during an online meeting Aug. 4. Screenshot.
The board charged with implementing the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future agreed Wednesday to give a special education work group until May 30 to finish its work, well beyond the Dec. 1 target for the group to prepare recommendations for lawmakers.
The Accountability and Implementation Board (AIB) agreed that the special education group needs the extra time “given the complexities” of the issues it is grappling with, and it voted to amend the overall education reform plan to reflect that.
The amendment approved Wednesday still calls on the work group to have a report ready by Dec. 1 with whatever recommendations it has at the time, but allows it to continue its work for at least another six months.
Blueprint board member Joseph Manko, education program director at the Abell Foundation, asked if even the Dec. 1 deadline will allow enough time to prepare a report in time for the start of the next legislative session. The first day of the 2025 General Assembly session in Annapolis is Jan. 8.
But Rachel Hise, executive director of the AIB, said staff regularly attends work group meetings “and we would be aware of whatever they are proposing to submit in the report by Dec. 1.”
The update approved Wednesday not only allows the work group to turn in any additional documents after that date, but to continue to meet quarterly from July 2025 through July 2026 “to receive updates on the progress of implementation of its recommendations.”
The work group wanted to submit a final report by May 30, according to a letter from State Superintendent Carey Wright to Blueprint board chair and former Montgomery County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett (D).
“Given the complexities of the tasks at hand and the critical nature of collaboration necessary to hear all voices, it is unlikely that the content from at least three of the fall meetings could be incorporated into the final report due December 1, 2024,” Wright wrote. “After all of the meetings are held and final recommendations are made, there will be additional work to incorporate the recommendations into the prioritization/implementation plan.”
The work group was established as part of the 10-year Blueprint plan to collect data and analyze instructional processes to students who receive special education services, and to review teaching methods used in Maryland and other states, among other duties.
Wednesday’s special education work group amendment was implemented a month after the board approved other updates to the Blueprint plan, which are supposed to be done annually by Aug. 1. Some of the Blueprint updates are from state legislation approved this year, such as partnerships between eligible prekindergarten providers and other entities established by the state Department of Education.
The expansion of eligible prekindergarten lead teachers will include not only those with bachelor ‘s degrees in early childhood education or a related field, but also those with “documented experience of actively providing services … for a minimum of 10 years for at least 20 hours per week and 180 days per year.”
These updates reflect part of the Blueprint’s early childhood education and came from House Bill 1441, sponsored by Del. Vanessa Atterbeary (D-Howard), chair of the House Ways and Means Committee.
Other updates to the overall Blueprint plan allow for the Career and Technical Education Committee (CTE) to request information and review a school district’s Blueprint plans related to technical education programs. Another addition to the overall plan will require that school districts hire Blueprint coordinators, with the costs shared between the state and district, but the prices differ in most jurisdictions.
“For each fiscal year, each county [school] board shall provide $150,000 for the salary and benefits of the implementation coordinator,” according to the Blueprint document.